Archive for the 'The Next Food Network Star' Category
July 1st, 2010
I am just not sure there is a “star” waiting to be born on this season of the NFNS. It appears that most of the contestants have both good and bad qualities, and a few can even cook, however, who would you really want to watch every week?
Brad can cook, but is boring to watch, Paul can not cook and is annoying, Brianna is way too full of herself, Herb really blew it last week with his meltdown and Aria should have a children’s cooking show. Aarti, I am still up in the air about, she needs to hang out with Brianna more. Serena and Tom are both very likeable, but I do not think they have that “star” quality.
Wait to see what happens next week……..
June 25th, 2009
There was the usual amount of drama on Sunday night’s episode of the Next Food Network Star. It seems that this year, someone is always crying, but maybe they just hired better editors? Who knows…….
In this episode Tyler Florence met the contestants in a market in a market, where he gave them instructions for their next task. They had to shop for a dinner party for 12 people. The catch? They only had $60 to do so. Throughout the course of this challenge, the contestants had to stop at the camera where Tyler critiqued them as they gave a 30 second budget food tip to the camera. As usual some of the contestants did well, others not so much.
The next day, the contestants were driven to Ina Garten’s house in the Hamptons. This was the mystery setting of their BUDGET dinner party and their guests were to be Ina’s friends and the selection committee. Yet another “twist” revealed that the contestants would have to cook in teams of two. Each team would have one hour to cook an appetizer, entrée and dessert.
Jeffrey won the first challenge so he was the only contestant that could choose his partner and he chose Michael. He chose wisely because this duo won the challenge. Michael was a little off tonight, but Jeffrey saved the day. However, he really needs to think of something beside the “crepe story” because everyone is getting sick of it.
In the elimination room, Debbie’s fears about Teddy were realized. He made a terrible dessert and did not want to take credit for it. He actually tried to take credit for a dish they collaborated on and again throw someone under the bus, just as he did with Melissa last week. Even the judges were not buying it and he ended up saying he was sorry…..and crying. (What a jerk!)
In the end Teddy and Eddie were left. I think they both deserved to go. Debbie really carried the whole meal and the presentation and Teddy was still ready to try and take credit for something he did not do. And Eddie…..I just do not even know why Eddie was ever on this show. He was down right mean to Melissa and he obviously can not cook.
I do not know if anyone caught the fact that Eddie made a salad with raw onion, watermelon and feta cheese that everyone hated. In fact, Susie Fogelson said it was “inedible”. Guess what? He got the recipe from a Paula Deen cookbook. After he revealed this fact at elimination, no one criticized the recipe again. Interesting…….
Eddie was sent home, but I really think Teddy will be next. No one is ever going to trust him no matter how much he cries and apologizes. At least we are rid of Eddie Munster…… (I know it is mean, but the resemblance is uncanny.)
June 7th, 2009
Tonight is the premier of the fifth season of the Next Food Network Star, hosted by Bobby Flay. All of the contestant’s bios are covered on the Food Network website. I am just interested to see if a star will really emerge. Some of the past seasons have not been the greatest. Guy Fieri is the only true “star” that has come out of the show with Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Adam Gertler both coming in at a distant second. Season one and season three winners are no longer on the air.
The thing I love most about the show, is watching the other Food Network “Stars” really go at the contestants. I think this is one of the most difficult reality shows. These Food Network people can be nasty! Watch out when Giada is a guest judge!
Stay tuned for more after the show……….
July 29th, 2008
I did not write about most of this season?s Next Food Network Star because I was traveling a lot for work this summer. However, I just really have to comment on the season finale and the winner.
Let me begin by saying that I do not think Aaron should have won. I think Adam and Lisa were much better qualified. Aaron did not even perform well on camera except for the last episode when they shot the promo spot in Las Vegas. This was not at all fair because he had the easiest promo to shoot by far. He walked through a lobby at a hotel and rolled dice. All with the help of Bobby Flay as a coach! How did he do such a good job? PLEEEAASE!
Meanwhile, Lisa was suspended in the air while trying to remember her lines and Adam had to dance with show girls. I must say, although I love Guy Fieri, he was not the greatest coach in this situation.
In the end, all three went to the final and Aaron received the big title of ?The Next Food Network Star?. It is my prediction that he will fade into the night just like Amy Finley and the Hearty boys. I also suspect we will definitely be seeing more from Lisa.
I am not even going to get into the fiasco of the Food Network posting the winner’s video before the last show. What is going on over there?
What do YOU think? Am I the only one who was not won over by Aaron?s charm? Am I the only one that is becoming more and more disenchanted with the Food Network?
June 17th, 2008
This week on the Next Food Network Star the contestants were challenged to create and present a dish with the boring potato as the main ingredient.
Adam really did a great job on this one. He made bacon cheese fries that looked really good and his presentation conveyed his theme of comfort food for all occasions. It was also cooked properly! Check out his recipe on the Food Network website. It looks really good. I know it is a simple recipe, but sometimes those are the best!
The other contestants did not fare as well. Aaron made a great potato wrapped in bacon that the judges loved, but he did not connect with the audience. Jennifer and Kelsey both bombed on the food and presentation. Nipa, on the other hand made a good dish, but really did not connect with the camera.
The next challenge was for the contestant to create a food product, name it, bottle it and present it to fifty food buyers. They had thirty minutes to shop for their ingredients. Nipa bought ALL of the cayenne pepper in the store, leaving none for the other contestants, if they needed it (and Aaron did).
The secret special guest turned out to be Martha Stewart herself, the Queen of branding. Lisa clearly took the lead on this challenge. She made an orange marmalade over Brie and it really looked goof. More importantly, she knew how to connect with the buyers and Martha Stewart. With the exception of Adam, the other contestants did not do so well.
Martha said she did not know how long she could watch a show with Kelsey and Nipa?s spice rub consisted of salt and cayenne pepper.
In the end Jeffrey was sent home. Although his performance was not the greatest, I would still like to know why the judges are still keeping Nipa around? She made a terrible presentation and a salt and cayenne pepper spice rub. Who could not made that at home??? Can you tell I am not Nipa fan? Are you?????
buy cialisbuy cialisbuy levitrabuy levitrabuy propeciabuy propeciabuy somabuy somabuy levitrabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy propeciabuy levitrabuy somabuy cialisbuy levitrabuy propeciabuy soma
June 9th, 2008
I skipped last week’s opening episode of the Next Food Network Star. I am sure everyone knows that Cory went home, so I will move on.
This week’s episode features the new Food Network outcast, Chef Robert Irvine. He woke the contestants at 3 a.m. and they had to work through a series of challenges in order to obtain their ingredients for the main challenge.
The contestants were split into 3 groups and they had to cook a meal aboard a moving train for 30 passengers, including the selection committee.
In the end, Lisa and Aaron won the challenge and that left everyone else up for elimination.
The surprise: Nipa broke down and left the elimination room. She went upstairs and spent several minutes questioning if she could handle the criticism and wondered if she really wanted to be there.
After several minutes of showing the shock on the faces of the contestants and the judges, the show moved on. Eventually Nipa came back and apologized. She then proceeded to recall her summers in India and she told the judges that she really wanted to teach people about Indian food.
Give me a break!!! Last week she made potatoes with curry. That is it; potaotes and curry. She followed that up this week with an overly spiced lamb for brunch. Combine that with two bad presentations in front of the ” selection” committee: Am I missing something?
In the end Kevin was eliminated. Admittedly, I do not see the romance in crostini with figs. However, all I know is this; if I would have ever walked out of a job interview, I do not think I would have been hired or even given another chance.
July 30th, 2007
I know it has been a week since the finale of the Next Food Network Star, but I just had a chance to watch it this weekend. I was away on vacation last week and after watching it, I see that I did not miss much. All I have to say is this season was extremely disappointing. We will see how well Amy does with Backyard Bistro.
The good news is Ace of Cakes is back. I will be writing about that and Hell’s Kitchen so stay tuned……
July 16th, 2007
I know everyone has to be talking about last night’s episode of the Next Food Network Star. The drama with Jag definitely overshadows the challenges of this show. However, I think it is worth mentioning that Rory did not really do well in the media challenge. Both her and Jag gave “negative” comments on the radio talk show and then she totally ignored Rachel Ray while on her show. (I have to say her steak did look good though.)
I think Amy, really did the best overall on both challenges. She went a little overboard with the French talk during her demo on the Rachel Ray show, but other than that, she really did a great job. I still can not believe they would let her go. But then again, last week she was the favorite and this is typical of the panel to cut the obvious choice.
At first, I thought the Food Network might have know about Jag towards the end of the taping of the show. (And I know the show has been pre-taped and I know it was over several months ago.) I just feel that it is way too easy to do a background check on someone to believe that a major TV network would not think of it. I think they let Amy go so then Jag would have to resign and Amy would therefore be reinstated. I think they wanted Amy in the final two all along. This way the ending was so much more dramatic, was it not????
I do think that Jag should be held accountable if he embellished his background. I am surprised that an ex-marine would lie about his service. It was the right thing to do for him to resign. I just do not believe that the Food Network does not check contestant’s backgrounds before they are on the show. That would be a liability for them. It makes the Food Network look bad. They are only dealing with a handful of contestants here, it would be easy to check them out. It is just a theory. What do you think??????
July 10th, 2007
I am a big fan of iron Chef so this was my favorite episode of the Next Food Network star this season. Bobby Flay and Cat Cora joined Bob and Susie as judges for the mock kitchen stadium battles. Alton Brown was in his usual role as the witty moderator.
Michael, Tommy, Adrien and Colombe returned to act as sous chefs for the remaining contestants. Paul picked Michael, while Amy decided on Tommy. Rory chose Adrien and that left Jag stuck with Colombe.
The first battle – Paul vs. Rory. Alton did his best imitation of the chairman and zealously unveiled the secret ingredient…..striped bass!
Even though Rory’s cooking station was a mess, she managed to make a good impression on the judges. They all liked two out of her three striped bass dishes.
Paul, on the other hand, did not perform as well. The judges said his food lacked flavor and Bobby Flay said he would “send him home with a spice rack”. Ouch!
Jag and Amy were the floor reporters during this battle. Jag did not want to compete with Alton’s food knowledge and really did not answer any of the questions he was asked. Amy did a great job and went out of her way to find out information.
Battle 2 – Jag vs. Amy. The secret ingredient was chicken.
Jag basically had a breakdown. He tried to limit his use of ingredients and appeal to the home cook, as the panel told him to do. It did not work. His food ended up lacking flavor and just not being very good. Jag loves Iron Chef and greatly admires Bobby Flay so this was particularly hard to watch. He was so upset at his performance.
Amy really excelled at this challenge. The judges loved all of her dishes. I have to say her Casbah chicken lollipop looked great. What a great idea for a party!
Paul and Rory both just did horribly as floor reporters. Rory was actually being sarcastic to Alton. Paul did not know what Sam Maranon tomatoes?? At least attempt to respond Paul.
In the end Paul was sent home and I was very wrong about him. He really could not handle this challenge. After this week, I thing any or Jag are going to win.
I just have to say, as a food network fan?!, I can not imagine cooking in front of Booby Flay and Cat Cora, let alone Bob and Susie. (and Alton Brown!!!!).
I give everyone so much credit for completing the task and just being able to cook. Anyone who watches food network understands what I am saying…. it would be so intimidated to cook into front of these people. All I can say is good luck next week to all the remaining contestants!
July 2nd, 2007
This week on the Next Food Network Star, Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats and the moderator for Iron Chef, was the guest judge.
During the first challenge, each contestant had to pick three random ingredients from a bag of rice. The challenge was to make a dish using these ingredients and present their dish to Alton.
All the contestants struggled with this task. They had a hard time relating to the ingredients and many of them did not even really do the cooking during the presentation. Not good!
Next, the contestants were given the food they dislike the most. They had one hour and $50 to shop. Then they had to write down the points of their 5 minute demo.
After the shopping trip, Jag, who was given Tofu, again grew angry when he discovered he was missing an ingredient. The judges felt his dish utilized too many ingredients (over 20) for the home chef (even though it did look good).
Paul, who was given lima beans, made a lima bean soup with parmesan bacon crisps. His dish looked good but he talked about too many different things. He was all over the place and it was confusing! Paul really needs to calm down because I really believe he is a good chef. He just needs to focus his energy.
Goat cheese was the ingredient that Rory hates the most. She felt she did not have enough time to prepare her dish, so she did not cook at all during her demo. She had the dish already prepared and this is not what the judges want to see. It is the Food Network, you need to cook.
Adrien was not at his best during this demo. He gave the wrong information about some things (remember you must be an authority on food!) and in general just looked stiff and uncomfortable.
Amy, who I think did the worst during this challenge, went completely off her demo script and just looked miserable. She was missing her family and feeling insecure and it showed.
Ultimately, Adrien was the contestant to be let go. Despite hosting a local cooking show for three years, he did not look comfortable on camera and his personality did not come through at all. He did look shocked at the judges’ decision. I think he really thought he did a good job.
I predict that Amy and Paul will be the final two. They both have a strong culinary point of view and if they can let their personality come thought, they both have a chance to win. But, who knows? There are still four finalists left. Stay tuned…………
